Parents of Student Who Was Called Racial Slurs Sue Toms River Catholic School
The parents of an African-American boy who was relentlessly bullied at school and called racial slurs claim St. Joseph Grade School officials didn’t do anything to stop it and are filing a lawsuit against them.
According to Jane Mason and Michael Lombardo, their son, “J.L.” was the only African-American student in the school’s 8th grade class and that the bullying began soon after he started 7th grade. They said he was constantly bullied for his race at school and students even told him to kill himself after he expressed his sadness over his grandma’s death on social media. His peers also called him a liar, made cutting motions on their wrists and left a drawing of a Klu Klux Klansman in a white robe on his desk.
Mason and Lombardo said that they addressed the bullying issue to school officials several times and nothing was ever done. They claim school administrators had a blame the victim mentality and even told J.L.’s classmates not to speak to him. The parents also allege the school guidance counselor revealed private information about J.L. and ruined his reputation among the parents of the students at the school.
The parents finally had enough when they found out about the Klu Klux Klansman drawing and took matters into their own hands. They headed down to Toms River Police and filed a bias crime complaint. They said two students were suspended and they didn’t press charges with the police. However, the bullying still went on, so J.L.’s parents took him out of the school and enrolled him in a public school before the end of his 8th grade year.
The parents are seeking damage for breach of contract, attorney fees and pain and suffering.
This isn’t the first incident of racist bullying. In May, the parents of a bullied 8th grader who attends St. Mary School in Long Island sued the school for doing nothing to stop the taunting.
Ursula Moore said her son Devon started getting bullied in December 2017 when three classmates sent racist pictures in text messages. The principal allegedly didn’t do anything about it.”There’s excuse after excuse after excuse, he refuses to meet with me and my family,” Moore said. “I mean, how can you send my son, a black child, a noose?”
Moore added that her son isn’t the same person since the bullying and has been scared to go to school.
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